Track-weeder



I. B. FRANKLIN. 'TRACK WEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 20, I920.

1 394, 1 9 3 Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

/fWe/7/0f Jo/w 5. Frank/m UNITED rSTATES PATENT OFFICEY TRACK-WERDEN Specification of Letters Patent.

'Patented oct. 1s, 1921.

Appiication ined Aprn 2o, 192e. serie-.i No. 375,377.

T o all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN B. FRANKLIN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the citj7 of Brockville, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Weeders, of which the following is a full, clear, and

-exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in l apparatus for removing weeds and the like from ballast along a railroad track and for spreading the ballast uniformly over the weeded portion.

The device comprises a sled or drag adapted to be trailed along on the ballast by a suitably equipped train and provided with a knife adapted to cut turf or the like and make a sharply defined line of demarcation between the ballast and the grading of the track. The drag carries suitable ballast spreading and evening means.

In the drawings which illustrate the invention Figure 1 is a plan view of the device.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the drag proper.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the device in operation.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 11 and 12 designate railway cars, the former of which may be a caboose and the latter a flat car. The flat car carries a projecting arm 13 from which the weeder may be drawn by means of a chain or the like 14. The body of the weeder comprises a drag 15, which may be made conveniently of three switch ties or suitably sized timbers bolted together and provided at one end with a draft member 16 to which the chain 1d attaches. The drag is connected by any suitable means such as a duplicate block and tackle arrangement 17 with the car 11, the tackles being connected to any suitable part of the car such as the side sill, so that the drag may be drawn up and may hang edgewise and clear of the track. These tackles may be adjusted to regulate the distance of the device from the track rail. The outer edge of the drag has fixed thereto a steel blade 18 which projects below the lower surface of the drag and forms a knife which will cut through turf or weeds adjacent the track and form a sharp line of demarcation between the ballast and the grading of the road bed. A scraper 19 is secured to the lower surface of the drag and extends from the knifeto the inner or upper edge of the drag. This scraper may be a section of old railroad rail laid on its side and bolted to the drag, one end of the rail being sawn at an angle as shown, so that the base of the rail will serve as a scraper and will lie close against the knife. The rear end of the drag carries a ballast spreader 20 which may conveniently be a section of angle iron disposed at an angle to the track, so as to scrape ballast down. This scraper is hingedly connected to bars or brackets 21 projecting from the drag and its angle is controlled by a chain 22 connected to a pin 23, which may be inserted in any one of a number of holes 24C in the drag.

The operation of the device is extremely simple. The cars 11 and 12 are drawn along the track by a locomotive, the car 12 providing the actual draft for the weeder, while the car 11 to which it is connected by the tackles 17 holds it from sliding down the grading. The drag is of suflicient weight to remain firmly in contact with the ballast. The knife cuts into the grading and forms a sharp line of demarcation or limit line for the ballast and also cuts off any encroaching weeds or sod. The scraper 19, which is at quite an acute angle to the line of movement scrapes the ballast upward toward the track rails. The weight of the device is such that the scraper will move the ballast to a suflicient depth to uproot any weeds which are growing or tear away any sod which is encroaching on the ballast. The ballast and weeds which are thrown out at the upper edge of the drag are caught by the spreader 20 and distributed uniformly. The uprooting and battering that weeds will receive and the subsequent exposure to hot sun will result in their destruction. When the weeder comes to a culvert, bridge, railway crossing or the like, the drag is lifted until it hangs vertically at the side'of the car 11 and clear of the track.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination with a railway car of a ballast spreading device comprising a relatively heavy drag body flexibly suspended from the car to hang by gravity upon the slope of the ballast and adapted to be drawn along the ballast by the car, and

ballast dressing means carried by the drag body held to theballast solely by the weight of said body.

2. The combination with a railway car, of

' a relatively heavy drag body adapted to be Y drawn along by the car, lexible connections suspending the drag body from the car and permitting the body to assume angular re- Vlation with respect to the vcarwwhereby the body is adapted to hang by gravity upon the slope. of the ballast, a scraper `extending diagonally beneath the body at a point intermediate the ends of the latter, the inclination of thescraper being such as to dress the ballast upwardly toward the upper edge of the body, a spreader carried by the body beyond the rear end thereof and disposed at an inclination opposite to that of the scraper and a cutting blade secured to the lower edge of the body and projecting below the body,

said blade,l scraper and spreader being held o dthe ballast solely by the weight of the o y. Y

3. The combinationv with a railway car, of a ballast dressing device comprising a drag body adapted to rest upon the slope of the ballast and to be drawn alongy the saine by the oar, leXible supporting connections extending between the inner edge of the body and the car and permitting the outer edge of the body to swing downwardly `to dispose the body at an angle corresponding tothe slope of the ballast, an inclined blade carried beneath the body adapted to scrape the ballast upwardly, spreader carried by the body at the rear end thereof.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN B; FRANKLIN.

andan oppositely inclined 

